1 dead, 23 hurt when truck hits W. Va. tourist train

Oct. 11, 2013
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BREAKING NEWS / Jerry Mosemak, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

A logging truck slammed into a fall tourism train at a rail crossing in eastern West Virginia on Friday afternoon, killing the trucker and injuring all 63 rail passengers and 4 crew members, officials said.

Three tourists were critically injured in the accident, which happened at 1:30 p.m. at a crossing on along U.S. Route 250 on Cheat Mountain, about 160 miles east of Charleston, Randolph County emergency services director James Wise told WCHS-TV. Two of the three cars of the Cheat Mountain Salamander overturned.

Davis Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Tracy Fath told the Associated Press that 23 people were treated at a hospital in Elkins for injuries and of that number, six were hospitalized in serious condition and two in stable condition. Four of those admitted were transferred to a Morgantown hospital while three were admitted to Davis Memorial, she added.

The truck driver's identity was not immediately released. The Pocahontas Times identified him as Danny Kimble, of Durbin, W. Va.

The train, owned by Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, was carrying tourists on a day-long, 88-mile excursion through Appalachian spruce forests and mountain wilderness at the peak of fall foliage

The diesel-powered train left Elkins, W. Va., at 10:15 a.m. and was to return at 5 p.m.

State clean-up crews were called to remove a large fuel spill, a spokesman for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin told the Associated Press.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved and the emergency responders working the tragic accident in Randolph County this afternoon," the governor said in a statement.